Fun Kids Art Activity with Rolling Rocks

Jenny is a preschool teacher, so many of her activities are geared toward large groups of kids and I was pressed to figure out a way to pull this off with just me and my 2-year old. Another issue was that I didn’t have any marbles in the house, and I couldn’t swallow forking out $11 for the marbles I found at the toystore this morning. In a fit of resourcefulness that I attribute to my girl scout past, I remembered the big bowl of smooth river rocks I have tucked away for forcing hyacinth bulbs to grow. Score! Something to consider: because painted rocks/marbles are bound to fly around, this is an excellent activity to try outdoors.

Why This Art Project works

Children get to experiment with non-art materials (in this case, marbles or rocks instead of paintbrushes), a reminder that all things are not necessarily what they seem, and that objects can be repurposed with new possibilities.

Older children will problem-solve as they try to figure out how to achieve color and line combinations within this almost unpredictable, moving framework.

Rolling Rock Art Activity Supplies

Bowl/bowls for the paint. I lined my bowl with tin foil so that I could simply throw the paint away when we were done — easy clean-up! I was happy to use one bowl for all the colors, but you may want yours in separate containers.

A tray of some sort. I found ours at a thrift store for $3 similar to this one on Amazon (affiliate). You can find these new at stores like Target. A clear plastic tub or cardboard box would also do the trick.

Masking tape

Paint Brush (optional). Great to have on hand in case your child wants to ditch the rocks for ol’ fashioned brush painting.

The Set-up

Tape a sheet of paper inside the tray.

Squeezed four paint color into a bowl

Dip a rock into the paint and then place it on the paper. Repeat this step for as many rocks as you’d like. We used about 8.

Rock the tray back and forth to create marks all over the paper.

We taped the complete paintings to a fence

Clean-up: I dropped the rocks in a sand pail full of water, swished it around, and poured the water on in the garden, and we washed our hands in the hose before heading inside. Pretty easy. The apron helped, too!

More Toddler Art Projects

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Comments

Try this same activity LARGE…use a cantaloupe and a grapefruit in a children’s plastic wading pool. I put globs of paint on the paper in the pool to cover the bottom of the pool. Then have kids holds the sides and roll the round fruits through the paint making tracks on the paper. Of course you could use balls or any round objects, but the fruit is very silly and fun. After, wash it off and have a snack. Kids love to do this! This activity comes from
BIG MESSY ART
by MaryAnn F. Kohl
published by Gryphon House.

The possibilities are truly endless. You two are such an inspiration. And BTW, MaryAnn, Big Messy Art is now on my bookshelf. Once I figure out how to manage my new role as a mama of two, I’ll be diving into some of these activities head-first.

Hi there just wanted to give you a brief heads up and let you know a few of the pictures aren’t loading properly.
I’m not sure why but I think its a linking issue.
I’ve tried it in two different browsers and both show the same results.